By Nick Reiher

I was chatting with Pastor Jana following our Annual Meeting at church a few weeks ago when she gave me some insight as to reactions to her sermons.

Let me first say, for the past nine years, Pastor Jana has given amazing, timely, thoughtful sermons to those of us at Faith Lutheran in Joliet.

Recently, she had told us it usually takes an hour of prayerful thought for each minute of a sermon. Hers generally run 10 to 15 minutes, she said. I had no idea, because I have never felt the need to look at my watch during any of them.

During that fellowship chat, she told a couple of us that now and then, there are some shortcuts. She called them “mac and cheese” sermons. I assumed because they are comforting, yet easy to prepare.

I responded that I didn’t know if it were good or bad that I couldn’t tell the difference. I know even on the toughest days, I come out of church feeling better – not doing handsprings – but better. And her sermons have had a lot to do with it.

She said it amazes her what sermons catch on with people, which ones she gets comments on, even thanks for. While others seem to pass with little notice.

It took me a few hours to realize she said this after offering a sermon in which she detailed two personal encounters with Homeland Security following the 911 attacks. Pastor Jana was born in Canada, and our government was looking very closely at student visas from all over in the years after.

She said it was especially difficult one time when she could not re-enter the United States to get back to her husband in Illinois because she had no proof of where she lived. The issue was finally settled a few weeks later, but left a mark, one which gave her even more empathy for what immigrants are going through now with ICE.

Oh, I heard every word during the sermon. And it hit me deeply, especially since she shared it in light of the ICE killings in Minnesota.

So deeply that I buried it for a while, as we had our Annual Meeting coming up after services. I needed to concentrate on not screwing up as I led my first gathering of fellow congregants.

Her sermon that day definitely was not “mac and cheese;” it was sharing a painful part of her life, one that showed she could empathize in some way with immigrants who are scared for their lives.

Only when my brain cleared later that day could I understand the depth of what Pastor Jana had done. One that deserved a hug, rather than the usual “good morning” as we exited the sanctuary.

In some way, I could relate. There are times I have to let my fingers catch up to my mind. Like when I could not write a “regular” story following the Will County Board’s special meeting on the 2025-26 levy and the budget.

I was so angry at what I saw and heard, the machinations that led to a vote that I am sure will show up on candidate election materials who’ll say they saved taxpayers $2 million. It breaks down to about $8 each, so don’t go out and price that Maserati just yet.

I had to write a column about it instead, because I could not tell you this budget vote, and what preceded it, was the normal way, the way the county has done a budget, since I have been covering them on and off for nearly 40 years.

I poured my heart and soul into that one. The only comment I got was from one County Board member who chastised me for using the terms “fecal production” and “two goats fornicating.”

Otherwise, silence.

Do you know which recent column got the most reaction? The one about the Laundromat. One of my fellow congregants wondered if I were describing myself when I mentioned the shabbily dressed character at the end. Others said they really enjoyed it.

I guess sometimes, mac and cheese is just easier to digest than what’s dished out to us here and around the country.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.